Development strong focus for karate

The new leadership of Karate South Africa (KSA) has identified the development of the sport in the previously disadvantaged communities as one of the challenges they will be prioritising.

Leon Beech, KSA president, yesterday told Sowetan that his new executive wanted to make karate accessible once more to most South Africans, with the focus more on the rural areas.

The new executive was elected last weekend after the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) facilitated a unification process among the warring karate factions.

"We are going to start the whole process by prioritising the development of athletes and administrators, we want to see karate once more becoming a popular sport in the communities that did not have opportunities in the past," said Beech.

"The general agreement within the executive is that we also need to have equity in karate. There is a serious need for more women in the sport and that's one of the things that we are going to deal with as a matter of urgency.

"Transformation is also high on our agenda as the executive. There is a need to ensure that the team that we select from the regions and nationally should represent the demographics of South Africa.

"The plan is to also bring the schools closer to us. We also plan to build sound financial structures so that we can compliment the funds we get from our membership and grant from the department of sport and recreation.

"We also have to improve our communication strategy for the image of karate," said Beech, adding they were planning to meet the local television stations.